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Chechen Teenage Bride Forced to Marry Man 30 Years Older Than Her

The Chechen bride looks forlorn as she stands metres away from husband while they take their vows

Kheda 'Luiza' Goilabiyeva, aged 17, has allegedly been forced to marry an ally of Chechen warlord Ramzan Kadyrov after being threatened with kidnap if she did notgo ahead with the marriage.

Harrowing pictures and video footage of her wedding day have been released, which show Kheda standing feet away from her new husband, who allegedly has another wife, as they take their marriage vows at a service in Grozny, Russia.

According to reports, Kheda was asked three times during the service whether she wanted to marry the 47-year-old police chief, named as Nazhud Guchigov - who has claimed he did not force the family to hand over their daughter.

Polygamous marriages are illegal under Russian law. The legal age for marriage in 18, but this can be wavered if authorities decide it is appropriate.

The marriage was initially brought to light by Russian investigative journalist Elena Milashina, who exposed the upcoming nuptials in Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta in April.

In the article, Milashina claimed that Guchigov had given Kheda's parents an ultimatum - surrender their daughter or face "unfortunate consequences."

Ramzan Kadyrov posted pictures of the wedding on Instagram on Sunday, alongside a long caption.

He wrote: "Dear friends! Before the wedding, Nazhud and Luiza, with support of relatives and friends, visited the registry office to register the marriage."

He later added: "For many days some media deliberately distorted reality, replicated false information, got into someone else's life and organised the persecution of people."